Elementary teachers have the very important job of introducing young students to the world of science.  The National Science Education Standards indicate that topics pertaining to the particulate nature of matter should be taught as early as Grade 1.  Our previous research has examined elementary students' beliefs about the nature of matter and has found that elementary students have beliefs about matter that range from macro-continuous to molecular.  This research has examined three pre-service and seven practicing elementary teachers' representations of the particulate nature of matter to determine what each group understands about the particulate nature of matter and how they use representations to teach the particulate nature of matter.   Rubrics were developed to categorize and interpret their drawings.  Data have indicated differences between pre-service elementary teachers and practicing teachers' drawings.   Implications for visual representations used in teacher training will be discussed.

“You want me to draw what?”:  Examining elementary teachers' representations of matter

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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